Practice report
Formula E Sao Paulo ePrix
Sao Paulo E-Prix: Dennis sets the practice pace for season-opener
Dennis heads da Costa in a 1-2 for Porsche-powered cars in Sao Paulo practice
Stefan Mackley
Published: Dec 7, 2024, 11:24 AM
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Smoke from dry ice comes out of the cockpit of the car of Jake Dennis , Andretti Formula E as he prepares to go out on track
Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images
Jake Dennis finished fastest in the second practice session ahead of Formula E’s season-opener in Sao Paulo this weekend.
The Briton posted a 1m09.617s in the final moments around the 1.82-mile street circuit aboard the new Gen3 Evo car which left him 0.038s clear of Antonio Felix da Costa.
Maximilian Guenther became the first driver to dip below the 1m11s barrier during Saturday morning’s 40-minute session, with all practice sessions increased by 10 minutes this season.
The German posted a 1m10.355s using the 350kW Attack Mode, which for the new Gen3 Evo era will give drivers all-wheel-drive and significantly increases performance by approximately 2.4 seconds per lap.
The DS Penske driver’s time, set in the opening 15 minutes, was already over a second quicker than the fastest outright time set at the Sao Paulo street circuit in the previous two visits to the venue.
Guenther’s time remained unchallenged approaching the halfway point of proceedings until David Beckmann surged to the top spot with a 1m10.249s for Cupra Kiro.
This time was eclipsed by reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein, who posted a 1m09.884s, but which only lasted as the benchmark for mere moments as Porsche team-mate da Costa went 0.229s faster.
The Portuguese driver's best stayed at the top until the end the final moments of the session when Dennis posted his 1m09.617s, with Oliver Rowland third and less than a tenth behind.
Watch: Formula E Season 11 - Sao Paulo E-Prix Preview
Wehrlein finished fourth ahead of Mitch Evans, the Jaguar driver posting the fastest first sector time before hitting traffic on his final effort that left him just over three tenths in arrears.
Rowland topped the opening session on Friday afternoon, posting a 1m10.162s as he led a Nissan 1-2 from Norman Nato, who was a further 0.080s behind.
Dennis finished third for Andretti but team-mate Nico Muller endured a difficult FP1 with his new team after making contact with the wall during the opening phase.
The Swiss driver finished last in the session after suffering a left-rear puncture that caused suspension damage and meant Muller needed to take his one joker tyre for the season.
Mahindra’s Edoardo Mortara finished fourth from McLaren’s Taylor Barnard, with last year’s championship runner-up Evans sixth, but the Kiwi’s Jaguar had to be recovered back to the pits after coming to a stop on track.
Da Costa and Wehrlein finished eighth and ninth, while last season's title protagonist Nick Cassidy completed the top 10 for Jaguar, less than seven tenths off the top spot but having struggled for pace in both practice sessions.
Main Information Additional Data Driver Info
1
-
3
Main Information
Cla Driver # Laps Time Interval km/h 1 J. Dennis Andretti Formula E 27 19
1'09.617
153.066 2 A. Felix da Costa Porsche Team 13 18
+0.038
1'09.655
0.038 152.982 3 O. Rowland Nissan e.dams 23 16
+0.091
1'09.708
0.053 152.866 4 P. Wehrlein Porsche Team 1 18
+0.159
1'09.776
0.068 152.717 5 M. Evans Jaguar Racing 9 16
+0.314
1'09.931
0.155 152.378 6 R. Frijns Envision Racing 4 19
+0.372
1'09.989
0.058 152.252 7 S. Buemi Envision Racing 16 20
+0.405
1'10.022
0.033 152.180 8 N. Müller Andretti Formula E 51 18
+0.432
1'10.049
0.027 152.122 9 M. Gunther DS Penske 7 20
+0.499
1'10.116
0.067 151.976 10 D. Ticktum Kiro Race Co 33 20
+0.594
1'10.211
0.095 151.771 11 S. Vandoorne Maserati Racing 2 18
+0.614
1'10.231
0.020 151.727 12 J. Vergne DS Penske 25 21
+0.627
1'10.244
0.013 151.699 13 D. Beckmann Kiro Race Co 3 17
+0.632
1'10.249
0.005 151.688 14 N. de Vries Mahindra Racing 21 17
+0.653
1'10.270
0.021 151.643 15 E. Mortara Mahindra Racing 48 18
+0.659
1'10.276
0.006 151.630 16 N. Cassidy Jaguar Racing 37 20
+0.722
1'10.339
0.063 151.494 17 S. Bird McLaren 8 18
+0.858
1'10.475
0.136 151.202 18
T. Barnard McLaren
5 21
+1.101
1'10.718
0.243 150.682 19 J. Hughes Maserati Racing 55 19
+1.424
1'11.041
0.323 149.997 20 Z. Maloney LOLA YAMAHA ABT FORMULA E TEAM 22 19
+1.436
1'11.053
0.012 149.972 21 N. Nato Nissan e.dams 17 12
+2.424
1'12.041
0.988 147.915 22 L. di Grassi LOLA YAMAHA ABT FORMULA E TEAM 11 18
+2.785
1'12.402
0.361 147.178 View full results
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